Potter Band
by Skye Phoenix Dove
Summary: I know the title's lame, it was my little sister's idea. Nico goes to Hogwarts with four other demigods (Draco, Neville, Alabaster, OC Luna) to help fight against Voldermort, sort of. Wizards eventually get suspicious, as do the seven and the camps. Set in third year, anything after Chamber Of Secrets is not canon. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Nico di Angelo O

**This isn't really a chapter, it's a prologue. The next one's a lot longer, I promise.**

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Nico di Angelo—

Keep an eye on Harry Potter, that was my assignment. Try to make sure he doesn't die if possible. Until then, I can't return to the giant war.

The gods have manipulated the mist so that Reyna and Coach Hedge forgot everything about me shadow-traveling around with them. Instead, both of them are being guided through a safe current by Poseidon while I have to go to school.

And the craziest thing is that I'm not the least bit upset!


	2. Harry Potter I

**I won't be able to update as constant as always. I think I can update faster than most do but please don't hate me if I leave for a few days.**

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Harry Potter—

Third year. And this time, I had been spending a wonderful summer with the Weaselys, who were pleasantly shocked at the donation I had given them in exchange for my stay. They probably would've let me anyway, but I felt better doing that.

Now, we were on platform nine-and-three-quarters, hoping to spot Hermione.

"She's not here." Ron declared at last. "Might as well wait for her on the train."

I agreed with him, and turned to the wall when suddenly I noticed a young boy looking very lost.

Well, he wasn't really that young, but he was short and skinny and probably only our age. The boy had messy black hair and was quite pale. He was wearing a black sweater and black jeans too and was holding nothing but a small silver backpack.

"Um, are you lost?" I asked with a bit of uncertainty. He turned to look at me then gave a slight smile.

"Actually I am." he said quietly. "Could you tell me how to get onto platform nine-and-three-quarters?"

It caught me with some surprise, as I never seen him before yet he seemed to be my age.

"Erm, yes." I said. "Just run straight through the wall, it will be as if it's not there."

Ron then came over and tugged on my arm and we ran through the wall together.

We were waiting in our compartment, the last one empty when we arrived, and finally spotted Hermione out the window.

"Finally." said Ron with a sigh. Just then, the compartment doors opened and the small boy walked in.

"Excuse me," he asked. "Is there any space here? Most of the other compartments are full."

More than true. This was the last one empty but far from the last seat.

"Okay." I said to him. For some reason, Ron shivered.

He sat down and put his backpack on his lap. After a minute or two Hermione finally walked in.

"Sorry I'm late, the traffic was awful." she said as she sat down next to Ron. Then she noticed the boy. "Oh, who are you?"

He seemed a bit uncomfortable. "My name is Nico di Angelo."

She looked curious. "How come I've never seen you before?" he looked a bit miffed.

"I'm eleven." he answered coolly.

I was shocked, even if he is rather small for our age he had that look of maturity about him.

Then he looked up at me with curiosity and, breaking the awkward silence, asked, "Are you Harry Potter?"

I sighed, not wanting to go through this again. "Yes."

His eyes travelled over my partially-hidden scar and I braced myself for the barrage of questions that are no doubt about to come, but he surprised me by nodding mutely and pulling out a book to read.

The three of us were surprised but that Hermione's thoughts were quickly pulled away as she regarded a boy who actually likes reading with interest.

"You like reading?" she asked him.

He lowered his book and looked her in the eye. "I don't mean to be rude, but is that odd here in England? Everyone I know likes to read sometimes during their spare time."

Hermione got even more interested. "What do you mean by 'here in England'? Aren't you from around here?"

"I'm from America." he said sincerely. "Although I don't spend all my time there. Is England often as cold as this?"

"Is it very warm in America? And what do you mean by not spending all your time there?"

"Well, not all the time, although where I usually am it is most days. I like to travel around a lot. Is Hogwarts really as routine as they make out?"

"How do you get enough money to travel around so much? Do you live with your parents or other family?"

"Do you always answer a question with another question? It's a bit annoying." he said suddenly, giving her a look of amusement.

Hermione stopped then flushed.

"Wow! You got Hermione to shut up!" Ron gasped in mock-amazement.

"Shut up, Ronald." she muttered.

Nico tilted his head. "Ronald and Hermione, then? Or maybe Ron for you?"

Again, we were surprised that he had figured it out.

"Yeah." said Ron.

Nico nodded and went back to his book.

"What are you reading?" Hermione couldn't resist asking. Then her expression changed to confusion. "What language is that?"

He put the book down on his lap and glanced at the cover. "Oh, ah, Greek Myths & Legends. The writing is in Latin."

Hermione looked skeptically impressed. "You can read Latin?" she confirmed first.

Nico began to go red. "Yes. I'm dyslexic, but certain languages were easier for me to pick up. English is my third language."

"Really?" I asked. "What about your first and second?"

"My first is Italian." he said with a slightly-dreamy expression. "As my mother was Italian and that was where I was born. My second is Greek. My father was really into Greece and Rome so I learned Latin too."

"So you know four languages?" gasped Ron. "Even with your dyslexia?"

He scratched his head a little sheepishly, looking embarrassed for some reason, and said, "Actually, I speak German, Chinese, French, Japanese and a bit of Malay too. I usually travel to countries with those."

Again, surprise! Surprise!

"What's Hogwarts like?" he asked suddenly. "I've been hearing wild stories about the sorting but I've never really known the gossip from the truth. What are the houses again?"

"You put on this hat and it'll look through your head and memories and stuff and talk to you a bit then yell out which house you're in." I said, noticing how he paled at the mention of memories,

"Gryffindor, for the brave," started Hermione, giving him a meaningful look that stated she knew exactly which house she wanted him to be in, "Ravenclaw, for the smart," a thoughtful look crossed her face as she studied him, "Slytherin, for the sneaky," she wrinkled her nose, "And Hufflepuff, for the loyal."

Nico looked a bit put out, the way Ron said I had when we had been thinking about which house we would be in on our first year, but to our surprise he said, "I bet I'll be in Slytherin."

"What?!" said Hermione. "But you're made for Ravenclaw!"

He shook his head dejectedly. "Just because I know a lot doesn't make me smart, Hermione. And I'm not brave either, I run away from things I'm scared off, which is a lot. I'm not that loyal, there are tons of things people can say to get me on their side. Besides, everyone judges me on my father, I'm bound to be in Slytherin."

Ron gulped. "So… who's the dad?"

Nico turned to look at him and I didn't miss the shiver from Ron. "Oh, you wouldn't know him."


	3. Nico di Angelo II

**I'm updating again! Don't expect them to be this fast, okay? Also, I'll be insulting the demigods a lot in this story, so I'm sorry if I offend your favorite character or something.**

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_To thegirlthathidesinhermind: Hi, thanks for reviewing. I think you made a really good point about everything. The thing is, I'm not really sure why this should all be more important than the demigod war, I just felt like writing it and it was the only way I could imagine that made sense to me. I suppose you could say the gods were originally ignoring the demigods because they could actually win the war easily by interfering anyway. As for Nico being eleven, again, I just felt like doing that, still think of him as a little kid so that's one of the things I changed from canon.__To be honest, I didn't really think things through when I wrote this fanfiction. This is just for fun. But I appreciate your advice!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Nico di Angelo—

Harry Potter seemed a lot like Percy, minus the humor and the confidence. He was much kinder than Percy, or at least, he was more sensitive to other people's feelings. Of course, one look into his eyes told me that the kid was a legacy of Hecate, no doubt about it.

Hermione Granger was just like Annabeth, only she seemed more mindful as well and truly appreciated knowledge. She was also less full of herself and knew her place.

Ron Weasely was the one I'd have to watch. He was far more observant and rather pessimistic, I could tell the moment I laid eyes on him.

The boat ride wasn't as nerve-wrecking as it would usually be, and I mentally thanked Hecate for getting all the gods to bless me. In fact, I was starting to get quite excited at the idea of actually learning to swim and having the chance to fly.

Somewhere within Hogwarts were four other students waiting incognito for me, Alabaster, Draco, Nyroc and Luna.

Alabaster Torrington, son of Hecate, former ally of the titans and an expert at runes. He was posing as Nathaniel (Nate for short) Jackson, a thin freckly Ravenclaw with an uncontrollable stammer and had only last year acquired enough money to attend Hogwarts. His excuse of being in Harry's year, two years below him, was that he had not enough education because of that setback. Thanks to Dumbledore's announcement on the matter he wasn't very inconspicuous but his phony nervousness and shyness hid him well. All lies.

Draco Lightbringer, son of Athena, half-wizard orphan and a very skilled mist-user. He used the mist to create his identity as Draco Malfoy, a spoiled brat that liked picking on Harry's friends and often made nasty schemes that backfired badly (yeah right, those were totally intentional). As a self-achieved child billionaire in reality, Draco was able to play up his role of loving fame, hating cowards, and posing as the perfect Slytherin. When in actuality, he and Nyroc had purposely set up Harry more than once to get him into Quidditch, the forbidden corridor, and most importantly Draco had made sure Harry didn't let himself get put in Slytherin. Nobody would ever guess.

Nyroc Lasky, son of Thanatos, born as a sorcerer and loves hellfire. His alias was Neville Longbottom, with mistforms serving as his extended family. Neville was nervous and a bit silly, always forgetting things and panicking at the simplest encounters, but made a friend in Harry Potter. If only they knew how many weapons he snuck in, how he purposely left his remembrall behind so that Harry could get onto the Quidditch team, how long he stayed awake at night listening for the monsters that came for Potter, how many times he bit his cheek and said the wrong answer instead for the effort of looking dim. If only they knew.

Luna Amato, daughter of Trivia, former centurion and suffers from emotional trauma. Therefore her cover; Luna Lovegood, a dreamy-eyed airhead who was smart and loyal but often didn't make much sense. Pretending to not have a care in the worked helped both her and their valuable mission. Luna's job was mainly to observe, just as Alabaster's was, and Draco's job was to deflect his anger, and Nyroc's job was to hold trusting.

I was going in as Nico di Angelo with my favorite act, just an innocent young boy who was rather scared about everything going on in the magical world but happened to excel in it. Technically, it was true, and all I had to do was stop pretending to be brave, as well as calling back some social skills and acting more innocent.

Now that I was here, the Potter Band was apparently complete. Everyone on this mission were good actors, but obviously I was the most mysterious of them all. The truth would all come out soon, if the Golden Trio were as golden as everyone made out.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, huh. Maybe I could have some real friends at last. I knew I could depend on Alabaster (sorry, Nate), Draco, Nyroc/Neville, and Luna (finally an easy one).

Suddenly, I heard my name called.

"di Angelo, Nico!"

I walked over at my slow-but-somehow-fast pace and took a millisecond to process everything.

Over at the red table was where Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting. I could see Nyroc (Neville, must remember to call him Neville) sitting next to them with a very convincing look of worry as he lifted the tablecloths to look for his 'naughty' toad (as if, we trained him to do that). I knew he saw me when he glanced up and gave me a strong encouraging smile that he must've suppressed for the entire ride.

At the green table, I could see Draco talking with his mates in a high-and-mighty air. He caught my eye and gave me a sly wink and gestured to the snake banner, although I knew he was just teasing.

Alabaster (uh, Nate) was sitting at the blue table, drawing spirals and designs on his paper napkin. He noticed me, flipped his pen all professional-like and pretended to hold it like a sword with a serious fcae before grinning and pretending to drop it. Spot-on imitation of Percy!

Luna was twirling a lock of hair around her finger with a dreamy look in her eyes but all he need to do was see the faint half-smile to know she was still functioning properly. She took a sip from a glass of something and nodded her head vaguely in my direction.

I reached the hat and pulled it over my head.


	4. Ronald Weasley III

_To Guest705: Thanks for pointing out that mistake. I've changed it._

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Ron Weasely—

"Slytherin, definitely." I told them.

"Ron! Look at how smart he is, look at his attitude! He can't be Slytherin!"

"I agree with Hermione, Ron, he seems to too innocent to be Slytherin-worthy." Obviously, though, Harry was probably thinking about how he hadn't wanted to be in Slytherin and didn't get in because of that during first year.

I rolled my eyes. "Guys, this has all gone to your head! Think, bloodlines! That's the first factor!"

They both gave me unamused looks.

I sighed. "Well, take a look at him! Look, people! I'm telling you, there's something wrong about him!"

Nico's eyes swept over the table in the millisecond he walked past them. His eyes, pitch-black with a dark melancholy of death, made me shiver. I noticed Hermione and Ron do the same.

"What was that?" asked Hermione.

"I told you, something's off about that kid." I said.

As he put on the hat, Neville shifted over since he felt more comfortable with us.

"Who's the new kid?" he asked.

"Nico di Angelo." said Hermione. "Poor thing reckons he would be in Slytherin, but I know he's destined for Ravenclaw."

"Or Gryffindor, possibly Hufflepuff." put in Harry.

"Nah, he's right. Slytherin." I told him. My two friends scowled.

Neville cocked his head. "Look at his eyes. Slytherin, or Gryffindor. Unlikely Ravenclaw."

Two solid minutes were up, I was starting to wonder what took them so long. I knew if you had a lot of solid or important memories sometimes it took longer but this was strange since he was only a new kid. Plus, I could see him trembling a little and the hat was actually squirming.

Then it opened it's mouth and…


	5. Nico di Angelo IV

**And his house is...**

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_To Littleheartache and ClareArcher: Thanks for reviewing! Your reviews really made my day!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Nico di Angelo—

Well, well, a demigod.

Am I talking to a hat?

Yes, you are.

Alright. At least I'm not going crazy.

You seem quite controlled for a demigod.

Part of the job.

But even your mind is calm, which is hard.

Eh. Do you talk with every student, or just me?

Every student if it takes long. So.

So.

Are you going to let me have a look at your memories?

Well, I see the mind-blocking thing worked. I wasn't sure it would.

I see. Smart, but not exactly fit for Ravenclaw.

Heavens, no, if that's like an Athena cabin equivalent.

I could just put you in Slytherin.

Figures. Care to elaborate?

Your attitude. And a son of Hades should fit in quite nicely.

You are not going to judge me on my father, hat.

Well, you'll have to let me look at your memories then, won't you?

Grumble.

Going once… going twice…

Fine. But you asked for it.

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**I'm sorry for making you wait more for his house! Next chapter, I promise!**

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**The next chapter may take a little longer, though, I'm kind of stuck a bit. I promise I won't make you wait more than three days. Swear on the River Styx.**


	6. Alabaster Torrington V

**HI! I'm back! Sorry I missed a few days, this chapter took a little longer somehow. But I think the next one should be quicker.**

**The characters that are undercover will use their real names in the titles and not their fake names.**

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_To phoenix010: My time zone is very different from yours then. Even if I updated at 4 a.m. where you are I actually updated at 7 p.m. where I am._

_To Guest: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Alabaster Torrington—

I smiled inwardly as the hat first began to squirm, then began to scream. Nico trembled a bit, probably at having to relive a big chunk of his memories, but he still managed to keep himself in control and probably his mind too. Way to make an entrance.

Outwardly, though, I widened my eyes and shuddered. An entire year of doing this and I had already given up on hating this character Nathaniel (Nate for short) Jackson. It wasn't worth it. My deal was better than Nyroc's and Draco's, but it was still annoying.

All of us found it a bit unfair that Nico got to have an easy role, but we weren't really that far off.

Nico had played scared, lonely, innocent yet powerful, little brother Nico di Angelo before in the mortal world, so it made sense to do it here since the witches and wizards were still considered mortals. I played stuttering, lonely, sometimes-hyperactive boy through half of my life, with more aliases than I could count. Luna found comfort in her role. Nyroc struggled a bit to remain 'useless'. Mostly, it was Draco that found it annoying, since he had to use his annoying genes from Athena to be the bad boy.

Either way, it was going to be harder to communicate now that we were all but two going to be in different houses.

Any plan created would depend on which house Nico was placed in. I was the only one who thought there was a small chance he might end up in Hufflepuff thanks to his kindness. All four of us were still betting Gryffindor.

The hat had been squirming from the bad memories than suddenly it screamed then shouted, "Alright, alright, enough!" I saw Nico's mouth twist into a small cheeky smile under the hat.

Ravenclaw sat close to the front, so I heard the hat when it said quietly,

"To see that much and still have your sanity…"

Then Nico's soft chuckle and reply, "Didn't know I still had it."

"Well then, for sheer courage," the hat said louder, "GRYFFINDOR."

I resisted the urge to fist-pump, instead I recoiled into my seat but winked discreetly as he passed.

Some questions will be raised, some questions will be answered, that's how things worked here in Hogwarts.

As soon as everyone else had been sorted, Dumbledore stood, prodded by my manipulations. "Thank you. Now, one of our new students, Nico di Angelo, is from an advanced school in America, New York, Long Isl— Therefore he will be joining the third years and be in the same classes as Harry Potter, to make things simpl—. Hope everyone has fun in Hogwarts!" he said the last two sentences rather rushed as everyone turned to look at Nico, who was genuinely uncomfortable.

Draco turned in his seat as well. But, far from even glancing at Nico, he turned and glared fiercely at me. Oops, too much info and far too obvious, guess I overdid it.

Everyone began to eat and I, being ignored as usual, pulled a book out and sat it on my lap. Nobody thought twice when I looked down, or noticed when I changed my reading light into a sacrificial flame, and disintegrated a piece of bread in the fire for the gods.

Gryffindor, huh? This was going to be a bit more tricky then.


	7. Harry Potter VI

**I know I'm taking a bit longer to update nowadays. Please bear with it. I probably can only update once or twice a week from now.**

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_To Kerowyn6: I totally agree! Thanks for the compliments!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J. **

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—Harry Potter—

I didn't want to agree with Ron, especially after Nico was announced as a Gryffindor, but I had to admit that there was something strange about him. The ghosts even bowed down to him when he came close. Then they scrambled away as he said something under his breath, which was odd.

The last empty seat at their table happened to be next to Ron, so that's were he sat. I was directly opposite him this time. Then I noticed the cold darkness of his eyes and almost shivered myself.

But I wasn't particularly worried. He seemed nice enough and my scar wasn't hurting like it would if he was truly evil.

"Hi." I said as he sat down.

Hermione brightened. "Hello, Nico. You know, I was just telling Ron and Harry that if you didn't get into Ravenclaw, you'll be in Gryffindor. And I was right, wasn't I? It's great that you're in this house, actually. It'll make things so much more proper, I hope. Course, we won't be in the same classes, but it'll be wonderful all the same!"

For a moment I thought he might actually be listening to Hermione.

Suddenly, Dumbledore spoke up even though he didn't usually make announcements like this.

"Thank you. Now, one of our new students, Nico di Angelo, is from an advanced school in America, New York, Long Isl— Therefore he will be joining the third years and be in the same classes as Harry Potter, to make things simpler— Hope everyone has fun in Hogwarts!"

I was shocked and saw Ron narrow his eyes at the boy sitting next to him while Nico looked uncomfortable.

Hermione, however, was estatic.

"Your school must be amazing if you're allowed to jump years! When I first arrived I was so worried about learning everything because, it is hard, even though Harry and Ron claim I did alright. Which school did you go to? I wasn't even sure if there were wizards in America but now I wish I knew before then maybe I could've gone to a good school like yours. What kind of courses do you have? Oh, it's going to be just wonderful having you in the same classes as us!"

Nico managed to give the impression that he was listening to her as he eyed the food that was being given out.

"You're gonna have to eat more than that." I said to him, pointing at the single sandwich on his plate.

"I'm not very hungry." he answered.

"But you've got to eat more, or what's the point of living?" asked Fred.

George grabbed his plate and piled something from almost every dish onto his plate, including some of Hogwarts' delicious treacle pudding.

Nico pouted teasingly even though his eyes were wide staring at the plate with longing. "I'm not a child, I can take care of myself."

"Get used to it." said Ron with an unbidden grin. "Now that you're in our year, you're going to be the baby for a long time."

He sighed exaggeratedly, making us all laugh, even Ron.

The twins calmed down. "I'm Fred." said Fred, sticking out his hand.

"And I'm George." said George, mimicking the action. "We're some of Ron's older brothers."

Nico didn't shake either of theirs. Instead he pointed at Fred and said, "You're George." then he pointed at George. "And you're Fred."

They both stared at him in awe. "How did you know?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "You twins are all the same. Plus, I've seen too many tricks to fall for that one."

Oops. Looks like I got fooled by that.

Then Ginny swapped chairs over next to me. "Hi."

"Ginny, this is Nico di Angelo." announced Hermione.

"Hi, I'm Ginny Weasely." she said with a smile.

"Hi." he said, not meeting her eyes which is a relief cause she probably would've been freaked out by his pitch-black eyes.

"I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom." said Neville.

"Hello, Neville."

After that, we had a usual chatter while Hermione went on and on to Nico. I considered trying to save him, but he seemed to be perfectly fine with listening to her drone on and answering her questions once in a while.

Later, Percy came over after saying hello to all the other Gryffindors.

"Hello there, I'm Percy Weasely." he said, putting out his hand but giving Nico a stern look, probably because at that moment the twins had been bombarding him with stories of their major pranks (at the same time Hermione was talking and Nico seemed to be able to listen to all of them).

Nico reached out and shook his hand then pointed to his head boy badge.

"You're head boy." he said.

Percy nodded, obviously waiting for him to say something unflattering like George and Fred were.

Instead, he just nodded and said, "I see. Well, I'm just going to have to make sure not to get into any trouble and make your job easier, won't I?"

Percy looked surprised but pleasantly pleased about this and he nodded. "There's good in you, kid. Keep it up."

If Hermione could be any more impressed, she was. I liked Nico too, but it just seemed so much like Gilderoy Lockhart all over again.

It was fun to see Nico's reactions when we got to our dormitory. Apparently since he was going to be in all the same classes as us he was also going to be in the same dorm as me, Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus. It was a bit curious how that silver backpack was indeed his only piece of luggage, but I shrugged it off.

Ron had been right when he mentioned Nico would be like the baby of the group. Seamus and Dean fussed over him and helped him with his stuff just to annoy him, and Neville drew hearts all over his schoolbooks with paper-resistant ink which seemed to freak him out before he realized that the ink wouldn't stay on the paper anyway. Ron and I couldn't resist joining in and enchanted the bed so that it looked and felt like it was wet when you touched it then didn't when you took your hand away. The teasing lessened after he rolled his eyes at us and smirked.

"Yeah, I get it, I'm the little newbie that can't cast a spell to stop a jinx. But I know a trick you wizards probably don't know."

Dean narrowed his eyes at him. "What?" he asked teasingly.

Nico sat down on the bed. "This, my friend, is what we call: a pillow fight."

The next thing that happened was a pillow smacking into my side.

We definitely should've seen that coming!

The playing field evened out after that, until Professor McGonagall came in and told us that 1) we should be sleeping and 2) feathers are meant to stay inside of the pillows and we better get them cleaned up.

The look on Nico's face when Professor McGonagall said 'clean this mess up' was hilarious.

Before we got into bed Ron said Hermione probably would've been jealous.


	8. Hermione Granger VII

**Okay! I've edited it up! Sorry, I'm usually in a hurry when I originally update this stuff and my iPad messes everything up.**

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_To Kerowyn6: Thanks! So, day, I'll be doing a chapter from Ron's perspective soon. He's a lot more, um, smart in this fic. I know how weird it is that Nico is all sweet and innocent, but the thing about these five uncover characters are that they're all pretty much acting most of the time. Plus, after going through Tartarus and everything, I think we can say that he's actually pretty scared of the war by now. Thanks for the advice, though._

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Hermione Granger—

Nico di Angelo was just so… interesting would be the right word.

I still wasn't sure about him completely. He was fascinating; smart, respectful, not too shy or jittery but not terribly bold either. He was so similar to Harry in that he was odd, but that was it.

All these things ran through my mind as I was tossing and turning in bed the night before. Hogwarts hadn't even gone through twenty-four hours yet, but just like the previous years, everything was already so interesting.

The boys took ages to wake up. Nico got down early and said Ron, Harry, Dean and Seamus had threatened him with hexes when he tried to wake them up. After he apologized, I thought about it.

"Leave them." I decided. "They'll get down in time, they always do." they deserve a little shaking up.

"Are you sure?" he had asked hurriedly, looking a bit flustered as he tried to tame his hair, which was half as wild as Harry's, but already major deal. "I wouldn't want them to get into any trouble, you know."

If only everyone else could be that considerate! "Nah, they won't get into any trouble."

Sure enough, all four boys came running into the hall just before Dumbledore appeared.

"You could've woken us up!" exclaimed Ron, shooting Nico a fierce glare.

Nico shrugged. He gestured towards me. "She told me to leave you. "

I gave them a sly smile to which they both responded with mild glares before Draco interrupted us.

"Well, look, it's the baby of the group." he said, coming up with Crabbe and Golye and behind him.

Nico sighed. I had a feeling he was already tired of this joke.

"Pick on someone your own size." I snapped.

"Oh, really, Granger?" he sneered at me, which I was used to anyway, before turning back to him. "So I guess you need your girlfriend to stick up for you, huh?"

I flushed while Harry glowered at him and Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Nico beat him to it.

"Well, I don't see your girlfriend backing you up. Too embarrassed to be seen near you… Malcolm, is it?" he said slyly.

For some reason, Nico not knowing his name seemed to shock Malfoy more than anything we had ever said back to him, but he quickly snapped out of it and gave Nico a seething glare. "What are you doing here, anyway? Wouldn't you be going off to that monstrosity of Ruralwings, back in your precious America?"

Nico rolled his eyes in response. "That's Rivalwings, ferret, get your facts right."

Malfoy blushed furiously.

Rivalwings was the American school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I hadn't really read that much about it.

Nico pushed away his half-eaten plate of food. "Just so you know, ferret, I may spend most of my time in America, but that doesn't mean I'm an American citizen. Rivalwings may be the best school round the North American continent, but I'll reckon Hogwarts could give then a good run for their money. I wonder if I could say the same about you, are you a charity case?" he put in with mock seriousness.

Malfoy seemed in rage. "Do you know who I am?!"

Nico arched an eyebrow. "Sorry, I don't understand you when you speak like that. Try calming down and talking in English, I haven't learned Ferret."

"It's Malfoy! Draco Malfoy!" he almost yelled.

Nico smiled charmingly. "Yeah, right. And I'm Bond, James Bond."

The few muggle-raised in the crowd that had gathered laughed at the reference.

"My father is in the Ministry!" he yelled. "Surely you've heard of him!"

Nico scoffed. "Yeah, the guy who threw a sock at his house-elf? Quite a scene he made in Diagon Alley in front of Lockhart that day."

"Do not bring my father into this!"

"Hello? You're the one who brought him up."

"I wonder if that big talk has anything to go by."

"More than you. Actually, I think you better run!" he said, eyes widening suddenly.

Malfoy looked confused and maybe a bit scared. "Why?"

"There are two gorillas staring at you, right behind you!"

Everyone burst into laughter as Malfoy swung round out of instinct then got the trick and turned back.

"I'm warning you, di Angel—"

"Sorry, did you just call me an angel? Now I know I'm great but that's pushing it a bit too far, isn't it, Malcolm?"

Malfoy exploded (not literally) as he turned and stomped away with Crabbe and Golye following behind him.

Harry stared after him. "Not good, Nico, you don't want to have Malfoy's father on your bad side."

Like he was one to talk. How many times had he smart-mouthed off? I, for one, thought Nico had done pretty well with his comebacks and gave him an approving smile.

I doubt he noticed either of us, though, as even Neville had to shout, "You sure showed him, di Angelo!" just so Nico could hear him over the babble of similar praises from the Gryffindor house.

I looked over at Ron and saw him staring suspiciously at Nico. I wondered what he had against him. After he acted so casual with him at dinner the day before, I was hoping he'd abandon his mistrust and befriend him but apparently not.

"Lesson plans." said Angelina, coming up. She handed us our sheets then moved away.

"Charms first today." said Harry. "And History Of Magic, then I've got Divination."

"Darn!" said Ron. "I've got Herbology first. At least the rest is the same with you."

"Well, that is to be expected since you took the same extra classes." I said. "I've got Charms, History, then Arithmancy."

"Great, I'm in Charms and History and Divination too." said Neville. "What about you, Nico?"

He leaned over and said, "Excellent, same schedule." Nico smiled at him.

I checked my watch and saw that we were almost out of time.

"Come on!" I said, standing up.

Nico quickly shouldered his silver backpack and followed. Ron ruefully split up with us as he headed toward the greenhouse.

Professor Flitwick tried to slow the class down for an awfully long time for Nico's sake, but he soon found that Dumbledore had been right to say he was advanced, Nico was perfect at performing his charms!

We did the flying charm that day. Harry wasn't very good at it, unfortunately. I tried to coach him, but obviously he didn't really listen.

Nico was doing far better. His pillows all fell on the bullseye drawn on the floor in the middle of the room. I was still annoyed to find that Harry at least seemed to listen to him.

"Three flicks, Harry, not four. Yes, it does seem like it's only three times, believe me, I've argued that enough, but you're moving it too much after the third time and— yes! Perfect!" he exclaimed, as Harry's pillow thumped onto the bullseye.

"Did you learn this before?" I asked him as he summoned all the pillows back.

"Yes." he said hesitantly. "My friend taught me."

"At Rivalwings?" I asked. It sounded much more advanced than Hogwarts.

"No, no, just a sort of overdone study group, a camp, you could say." he said quickly. "I'm much too young for Rivalwings." he broke into a wistful smile. "My sister was old enough. She would've loved Rivalwings."

Harry frowned. I wondered if he was offended about Nico patronizing any wizarding school other than Hogwarts, then he looked at Nico and asked, "Did something happen?"

The smile instantly left his face. "Yes." he said bluntly. "She was killed."

Harry looked sympathetic, like he was expecting this, but I was rather taken aback.

Before I could say anything, Professor Flitwick congratulated the class and announced the lesson over, which Nico was ever so happy to embrace as an excuse to leave.

"See you later." said Harry as he left towards History.

"Yeah, see you."


	9. Nyroc Lasky VIII

**Sorry for making you wait, this one took longer to write than I expected. But it's here now.**

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_To Guest: I can't make this Draco/Nico. It's not exactly that I don't like them together but I'm just really bad at writing gay stuff and actually romance in general. This is probably going to end up as Nico/Hermione._

_To Joey Bermuda Ketail: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it so much! Personally, It think everybody should stop making Ron the odd one out, too!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Nyroc Lasky—

The definite problem with Nico being at school is that it makes it so much more tempting to just chuck the cover and go wild with our abilities. A little bit unfair? More like majorly unfair.

The only reason why I'm not quite as frustrated about this as Draco, Alabaster and Luna are, is because my magic truly does suck. Children of Thanatos don't have a very strong magical aura, and being a sorcerer doesn't take you very far. You're only very powerful if you're a sorceress, which seems pretty unfair to me.

Charms is the most annoying class for me, since it's the only thing I'm actually good at. So it's majorly annoying when it comes to the point that I pretend I'm freaking lousy at that.

Besides that, is History Of Magic. I suck at that too but my grades are perfect. That's because Professor Binns knows who I am and is scared of me, even though I never did anything nor cared, but if he's going to just let me cheat, I have no complaints.

When we all walked into History, I was kinda worried that Ron was looking in our direction more often than usual, but after awhile, I decided he probably was just bored. It is Professor Binns teaching, after all.

There's never anything interesting to say about this class. Voldermort could have come in and murdered everyone and our dim-witted ghost of a professor wouldn't notice.

He did call Nico 'sir' a few times, until we took out our weapons and he shut up.

By the way, none of the wizards can see our weapons. They're just mortals. Magical mortals, yes, but still mortals.

But besides that stuff, nothing interesting happened. I accidentally fell asleep behind my book for around half and hour (not that anyone would probably notice, since I was in the back row), and Nico was somehow managing to fall asleep and keep takin notes (probably for Hermione's sake), Harry and Ron started playing exploding snap, and Hermione was obviously taking notes.

I was sorta interested in Divination, however. Even though both Draco and Nate (yeah, I call him Nate instead of Alabaster, didn't know him very well as a demigod anyway and makes things much easier to act out) warned me that there are very few seers left out there and that I'll probably be disappointed.

"What are seers, anyway?" I asked Nico quietly as we followed all our class (Gryffindor and Hufflepuff) up the stairs.

"Something like an Oracle, I guess." he answered with a shrug. "Only more wizardy and more theory, I suppose?"

"I agree with Draco." whispered Luna, no one was supposed to hear us talking. "Sybill Trelawney is a fraud."

"How do you know? He isn't taking Divination either, and we haven't seen her yet." asked Nico, curious as was his original nature.

"Because—" I didn't let her finish, cuz I knew the real reason.

"Luna believes everything Draco says." I told him. "She's totally in love with him."

"No I'm not!" she tried to whisper as loud as she could without anyone hearing her.

Nico looked from her to me and shrugged before climbing up the silver ladder.

Luna looked like she badly wanted to fume for about a millisecond before quickly dropping back into a dreamlike state. I moved back into Neville's head, which is nothing like mine because Neville Longbottom is clumsy, weak, and as very low self-esteem/self-confidence which is something I have a lot of.

Our Divination classroom looked nothing like a classroom, I think it looked sorta like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea-shop. There was a fireplace at the corner that made the room seem boiling (granted, I'm used to the freezing atmosphere of the underworld so pretty much everything seems quite warm to me) and there were lots of little circular tables crammed inside along with some armchairs and some things Luna dreamily said were called poufs.

There were also loads of teacups, dusty feathers, candle stubs, crystal balls, and loads of other seer-related mumbo-jumbo lining the walls.

"This looks more like a muggle fortune-teller shop." I heard Nico say to Harry and Hermione.

"Muggles have fortune-tellers?" asked Ron in surprise.

"Yes, but they're pretty much all fakes." Nico reassured him.

Me, still in Neville-land, immediately tripped over somebody's book bag and went sprawling. Gods, it's annoying being Neville.

You're probably going to say, 'But aren't you actually acting as Neville?' C'mon, people, think! Two entire years of pretending to be (in my opinion) the clumsiest person in the world? Obviously, I practice tripping over everything then get used to it so that my act is realistic! Besides, me being Neville is too bizarre for me to comprehend, it's easier to just imagine I've borrowed the kid's body for awhile. I don't really think about how to act when I'm Neville anymore, it's like instinct already.

The second Sybill Trelawney came out all mystical, I agreed with Draco and Luna that she was an absolute fraud.

I mean, she didn't use the crystal ball or anything when she made dramatic gestures and all. I would say wannabe daughter of Aphrodite instead of junior oracle.

The first thing she did was tell us to go get some cups and drink some tea. Then she suddenly swooped down to me and said, "Oh, dear, when you break your first cup, do choose one of the pink ones, then? I'm rather fond of the blue ones."

I know what she's doing! Rachel once pulled this trick on me when I was at camp, only hers was way cooler.

It's a bit like how the mist works, I guess, she assumes I believe her so it's like self-fulfilling prophecy. Add that with how I tripped over and revealed Neville to be a world-class klutz, obviously I broke my cup first, which did happen. It's all about acting and reading body language, really. I seriously considered dropping the act again just to prove what a huge fraud she was, but as Draco says 'sacrifices to be made' and my reputation isn't exactly worth my life.

Wow, did I just think that? A few years ago I wouldn't hesitate to trade my life for my reputation and all, but I guess that's why the gods put me in job in the first place, right? To keep me in line?

Whatever. So, Sybill Trelawney (I am never ever ever in a hundred years going to call her 'Professor') told us to drink the tea. Then she said to swap the cups with a partner and 'use our inner eye to uncover the mysteries of the poor dear's life'.

Nico had to partner me, since Harry was partnering Ron, and I was contemplating dropping my cup and breaking it so that I didn't have to deal with this stupid junk.

If you're gong to ask me if I regret taking this class, I only got in here because Harry was here. Draco isn't here because not only are the Slytherins not in Harry's Divination class, but he expected what was going to happen and refused to sign up. He's taking Arithmancy instead, with Hermione, and Nate is taking Ancient Runes, which I think me and Nico have as well.

I was thinking, this tea leaf reading thing is stupid. I mean, it just looks like a bunch of tea leaves to me.

Nico said, "Um, Neville, did you notice our cups are identical?"

Wow, Nico, brilliant deduction. My cup is pink while your cup if blue, but of course they're identical. I didn't really have to suppress the urge to roll my eyes, even though I was doing it mentally anyway, because Neville doesn't do that kind of thing.

I was like, "Yeah, totally, maybe we're twins separated from birth!" (only I had to say that telepathically too, since Neville isn't supposed to say that kind of stuff).

But I realized that he was actually right, cuz the tea leaves looked like they were in the exact same shape, even though I couldn't really tell since it still looked like just a bunch of leaves to me.

Suddenly, Trelawney came over and was all, "What's this? Two friends so close their destinies intertwine with such passion?" and Lavender and Parvati gasping theatrically in the background.

I'm glad that children of Hades share children of Thanatos' trait of being blunt and sarcastic. Nico still kept his innocent act up and all that but just said, "We've only just met yesterday."

Boom! Act over! Well, not really. All she did was blush a bit and look a bit embarrassed. Sad, though, it would've been nicer since the whole class was watching us.

But she didn't stop there. She picked up my cup and looked in then gasped dramatically like, "Oh this is terrible!" and picked up Nico's with her other hand and looked into it too and said, "Yes, yes, oh you poor dears! Such a dreadful fate!"

Me and Nico exchanged glances, since we couldn't really exchange that 'death kids' look (as Nate calls it) and wondered whether she was going to predict our death like Draco said she was probably going to do to Harry.

He was being all dramatic and pointing at us with a crazily quivering finger and going, "You... you have the Grim."

Then when she didn't get a big reaction like she no doubt wanted, Trelawney practically threw a fit and almost yelling, "The Grim, the Grim! The Great, black, spectral dog that haunts you to your death! You, my poor dears, have it hiding in your souls! You will die, very soon!"

We glanced at each other again then Nico couldn't stand it. He burst out laughing. Obviously I couldn't do it as Neville, so while everyone was staring at Nico like he was crazy, I just hid my face in my hands like I was upset or something so that no one could see me laughing too.

I mean, hello! Nico's the son of the Lord of the Underworld, I'm literally the son of Death. We both live in the Underworld and have skeletons to do our chores for us and talk to dead people on a regular basis. Nico takes Cerberus for walks and gives him baths. The Grim is my pet, literally! Obviously we have death in our souls!

I kept laughing into my hands. Nico was almost rolling on the floor.

Sybill Trelawney was obviously pretty offended, but before she could say anything, Ron saved us all by saying, "Oh! We're going to be late for our next lesson!" which if we are, then that lesson is lunch.

Trelawney blinked and said, "Oh." then, like she needed to get her act on again like us, put on a dreamy like and said in mystical voice like before, "Very well then, go go, we shall exploit our inner eye another day."

I grabbed my bag and ran out, heading to the Room Of Requirement because it was the only safe place where I could really be myself and have a good laugh.

Only, I guess this whole 'reading tea leaves' thing might not be so stupid after all, they actually did get a few facts right.


	10. Ronald Weasley IX

**I'm not going to be able to update for the next few weeks because my exams are coming up so mom will be monitoring my computer use.**

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_To Guest: Thanks! I'm glad you like it!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Ronald Weasley—

Okay, Divination is a flop. Professor Trelawney is a fraud.

I believe the whole Grim idea, I really do, seriously. I mean, my uncle Charlie saw it and died less than twenty-four hours later!

I know Neville believed it too. He was seemed so upset about it and didn't even come to lunch with us. I don't blame him. Like I said, I believe it too.

But what I don't believe is that Professor Trelawney actually saw it in the cup. I'm pretty sure that she's just being dramatic.

Plus, if her shop is like muggle places where wannabe seers are, I can't see how it's effective.

Maybe Hermione made the right choice by not taking this class.

I'll admit, I was a bit spooked at first. She was taking it so seriously and all. I saw that she seemed rather surprised when she looked into their cups and maybe even a bit curious.

When Nico burst out laughing then I was a little surprised. Neville was putting his face in his hands and trying not to look at anybody, but then Luna burst out laughing too and was all like, "Oh, that's hilarious! And I supposed the Nargles will swoop down and kiss him goodbye, too!"

That statement was so ridiculous, about as ridiculous as the whole dramatic prophecy Professor Trelawney, so I started laughing too. Lavender and Parvati (you can tell they practically worshipped Professor Trelawney) were staring at us like we were crazy, but they started laughing too. Harry joined it saying something between laughs like, "—seriously—Grim—in a cup—crazy—".

When absolutely everyone was laughing, I figured I couldn't stand anymore of this lesson and yelled (since if I didn't yell I'll just start laughing again), "Oh! We're going to be late for our next lesson!"

So when Hermione sat down beside us at lunch and asked us how was Divination, me and Harry started laughing again.

"What's so funny?" she asked, obviously miffed.

Harry looked to me but I was already chomping down my chicken half because it was good and half to stop my laughter so he sighed and told her.

Hermione snickered. "Oh, that's ridiculous! But now I feel better about missing that class, honestly." then she looked around and said, "Where is Nico then?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Hermione obviously has a crush on Nico, even though he's two years younger than her.

"He went back to the dorm to get something." Harry said. The disappointment was showing evidently on her face.

"Oh." she said. Harry looked at me and I shrugged at him.

After lunch (Nico didn't show up at all, which was odd) we were on our way back up to the dorm when we bumped into Wood.

"Harry! Just the person I wanted to see!" he said.

Harry smiled at him. "Hi Wood. What is it?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Quidditch practices starttomorrow, every Wednesday and Saturday."

"What?" said Hermione. "You're practising already?"

Wood nodded excitedly. "Quidditch matches are starting early this year! Gryffindor against Ravenclaw next Friday!"

"That's awesome!" I yelled.

Hermione looked shocked. "Goodness, that's early!"

Wood grinned. "Harry, I'm hoping to win the Quidditch cup this year, I know I can count on you but don't slack off, okay?"

Harry nodded, looking nervous and excited.

Wood clapped him on the shoulder then left in the way we came.

Hermione still looked a bit appalled as we continued to the common room, then she smiled. "Harry, you'll get to show Nico all about Quidditch!"

I stared at her. "Why would he need to do that?"

Hermione sighed. "Nico doesn't know anything about Quidditch, apparently."

Harry nodded. "I asked him whether he played Quidditch or something in Charms and he just looked at me and said, 'What's Quidditch?'"

I frowned. "How can he not know what Quidditch is?" Nico was nice whenever I was talking to him and stuff but he was still pretty suspicious.

Hermione shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe his camp and parents just didn't say anything about Quidditch. Maybe America isn't that big on it. I'll look it up!" she announced, stopping as we were going past the library. After we just kept walking, she decided to follow us. "After dinner."


	11. Nico di Angelo X

**Finally I've got a moment on my computer to update! I don't want to leave you without an update for too long, but if I don't manage to do this again then I hope this can last you until my exams are over for good!**

**Due to certain responses and the fact that I will admit I am lousy at writing romance stuff, I'm going to try and keep the pairing in this fic to the minimum. Sorry if I disappointed any of you.**

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_To The Son Of Hades123: I have read it, and I agree that it's a great story. The thing is that I'm not fond of what lightningscar twisted the canon into. I know I am twisting the canon a lot too but we all change our stories to be what we want. I do imagine Nico to dislike the camps and all in the same way and be as powerful as well though, and I hope maybe one day I could write something as amazing as that._

_To Guest: So it took me a long time to update with my exams... but thanks so much!_

_To Kerowyn6 and Joey Bermuda triangle: I get the point._

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Nico di Angelo—

Hogwarts is nice.

It has yet to impress me enough to the earn the title 'amazing', 'awesome', 'fun' or even 'weird'. But it really is nice.

Everyone here is so nice. And understand that I, as a child of Hades, is not really used to people being nice to me.

But almost everyone here is nice to me. Okay, I haven't run into any Slytherins yet, but everyone else seems to be. There were these two random sixth-year Gryffindors that warned me where all the trick steps were on my way out the Great Hall, some Hufflepuffs showed me the way to the Gryffindor tower after I got lost again, and there was this Ravenclaw girl named Cho that helped me up when I fell into a trick step on a random staircase.

I am so not used to this.

Nobody is ever this nice to me. Even Hazel is pretty awkward with me because of Bianca, and even more so now that she's got a boyfriend.

The thing is, I can see why Draco, Luna, Nyroc and Alabaster all would rather stay here than be at either of the camps, or in the underworld, or on the run. It's a lot nicer here, even if you've got to wear a disguise all day. It's rather like just being in a house automatically makes you accepted there, and other houses liking you too are a bonus.

So, yes, I really like Hogwarts.

So I don't know why I was so anxious to get up to the dorm and be alone for awhile. It was sort of against the rules, since my job was to protect Harry Potter and therefore be around him at all times.

It wasn't like I could really call Percy either, that would jeopardize the whole mission. He might ask where I am, or ask to speak to Reyna. I couldn't risk him finding out, no matter how much I wanted to see them.

I'm not worried about Hazel, honestly. She's in good hands. Frank, Leo, and Jason would take care of her.

I guess maybe I was homesick? Somehow, being in solitude was more familiar, so I really did need to be alone. If I were to be honest with myself, which I always try to do, I would say that it feels much more comfortable with others at Hogwarts and only slightly awkward when I'm not completely sure how to respond.

Only, my alias, the very shy innocent Nico di Angelo, did know how to respond.

It feels weird pretending to be someone else. Really. On one hand, it's obviously just me acting. On the other hand, it's not me and you get the feel of it after awhile.

Once I reached my dorm, the first thing that caught my eye was the blue scarf that Reyna had handed me seconds before the gods took me away, lying carelessly across my bed. It made me wonder how the war was going.

Knowing them, it would take the seven almost a month to get to Greece. One of the things that annoyed me was how the gods could obviously send people places very easily but they didn't bother to do that with the demigods.

Actually, it was fine by me. Hogwarts was just so much easier and all, nobody would judge me on my parentage or anything. Being around Jason was too nerve-wracking now. Admittedly, it hadn't been that bad when we had started out our mission in Dalmatia, Jason had been a pretty different partner than what I'm used to, but now I'm too worried I'll say something wrong and provoke him into spilling my secret.

Even though I'm pretty close to believing that when he says I can trust him, he means it.

But I'm not quite ready to go that far yet.

After being there for awhile, I decided I really needed to DO something. Then a thought struck me.

Draco had explained to me about where it was but no way was I going to be able to find it alone. Luckily, I only needed one word.

"Seventh floor." I told Lavender, who happily obliged.


	12. Draco Lightbringer XI

**Okay! It's tough finishing these chapters when technically I'm supposed to be studying for my exams... unfortunately I care more about these stories than I do about my exams so here's another chapter for now! (keeping in mind that I'm updating on the sly so don't be too surprised if I disappear for a few days during the actual exams)**

**Oh, and... yeah, I said that there's not going to be any romance in this fic? Technically there isn't but Hermione so obviously likes Nico here. He's not going to go liking her back or anything though!**

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_To MeggieBlack: I try. Since I love reading fanfictions a lot too and feel annoyed with people who abandon their stories for too long._

_To Me: Yes, probably._

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling.**

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—Draco Lightbringer—

The annoying thing about Nico is how he can make me seriously annoyed, unlike Harry. Honestly, it's terribly difficult coming up with snide comebacks and insults if the only things you have to work with are 'mudblood' and 'wait till my father hears about this'. And usually the only things they can come up with are 'snakes', 'git' and 'ferret' so it doesn't irk me off as much.

But the Malcolm comment was a low blow.

Malcolm, as you may know, is another one of my godly half-brothers. He is also Little Miss Perfect Annabeth's favorite sidekick. I am not the typical Child Of Athena (no typical child of Athena would believe in wizards and witches before meeting them) mainly because I liked to challenge Annabeth's decisions a lot.

As I told Nico, I wanted to be like Malcolm for a few years, even though I didn't want to ever since the war started and he did nothing. I totally hate him now.

The fact that I hadn't been acting completely irritated me. I was twenty seconds away from yelling a batch of choice curses at him, which I never really do (except to Annabeth, Malcolm, and a whole bunch of others at camp as well, and Nyroc when I first met him). I can usually keep calm on the inside. That Nico was able to actually annoy me was troubling.

I decided to head to The Room Of Requirement. That was our usual meeting place. It used to be Myrtle's bathroom until The Chamber Of Secrets was reopened.

The Slytherins didn't notice me leaving (everyone hates Malfoy) and I told Crabbe and Goyle, my mistforms, to go do something useless. I didn't think that many other people knew about the Room Of Requirement and I wanted to keep it that way.

'I need the Potter Band meeting room' I said in my head as I paced up and down. It would've changed by now, Nico would be allowed to come in too.

Luna was already there when I got there, and Nyroc was still laughing his head off about something that happened in Divination.

"Alabaster's on his way." I said to Luna, holding up the gold coin that we used to communicate. It had words on the sides instead of numbers and grew hot whenever a new message appeared.

"Good." said Luna. "And Nico?"

"No idea." I said. "But I have a feeling he'll make it."

That moment, the door opened and Alabaster stepped in.

"Hey guys." He said. "What's up with Nyroc?"

Luna grinned. "Sybill Trelawney was going on about him and Nico having death in their souls and stuff."

We both stared at her, then started laughing. It felt good to act like myself again.

"Hilarious." said Nico, as he closed the door.

"Nico!" said Luna "When did you get here?"

"Few seconds ago." he said.

"How?" asked Alabaster. "I got completely lost the first time."

"Lavender was ever so eager to take me to the seventh floor." he answered with a smirk.

Nyroc and Alabaster rolled their eyes.

"Is there a reason we're here?" asked Luna impatiently.

"Yes." I said. "How do you like Hogwarts, Nico?"

I watched him look away from me for awhile, doing what we all do when we're around each other; contemplating whether we could tell each other the truth.

"It's weird." he decided. "But not in that way. Everyone here is so nice. I mean, not that I don't like it, exactly, but..."

"I know just what you mean." Nyroc agreed. "It still feels weird to talk to people."

"You'll get used to it after awhile." said Luna. "But do you like it?"

Nico shrugged, getting a little more comfortable with our company. "I think so. Sorta. Like I said, it's weird but... it's nice."

I nodded to him. "We all feel like that."

Nico stared at me. I guess I could see his reasoning. He was coming in all social, Luna and Nyroc were relatively slightly-lower-than-average social status. Alabaster... probably anything was an improvement from being on the run.

But me? How could being hated be an improvement?

It's nice to let my Athena-attitude side come out. Even better to be able to release my emotions without caring about my reputation. It was fun to be mean to people without having to care that you're hurting their feelings since you're doing this for their own good. I suppose that makes me a terrible person, but I'm pretty sure that's how all my siblings would think. If they cared.

I didn't answer Nico, since technically he didn't say anything to me.

Instead.

"Good job today, 'The Angel'" I said sarcastically. "'The Ferret' got pretty pissed off."

He raised an eyebrow and grinned at me. "It was fun to yell at you." he admitted. "Even if I didn't exactly want to in the first place."

"I liked that." Nyroc said, shooting me a look. "Especially after you sent me that stupid valentine as a joke last year."

"Yeesh, it was a joke!" I groaned.

"Lay off him." said Luna. "We all have to act. Nico didn't really mean the things he said to Draco and Draco never meant any of the stuff he did to us."

"We know that." said Alabaster. "And to tell you the truth, this conversation isn't nearly as interesting as it was originally. How was Divination? Besides the whole 'death in your souls' stuff."

"Well, you were right about it, Draco." said Luna, looking to me. "Sybill Trelawney is an absolute fraud."

"Told you." I said to Nyroc, who undoubtedly hadn't believed me.

"Yeah, yeah." he said. "I agree." he didn't look very convinced.

"How was Ancient Runes, Nate?" asked Luna, looking to Alabaster. Merlin, the way he's called two names at the same time is so confusing.

"Fine." he said, grinning. "Obviously."

"No fair." I argued. "You've dealt with runes for practically your whole life, you wouldn't even need to study to get top marks!"

"As if you're one to talk." he shot back, laughing. "Since you get top marks in everything."

I'm supposed to fail my exams as much as I can but there's only so far that acting can take you.

"It's supposed to be a Child Of Athena thing." I told them what I've said before. "Then why is it that practically no other Child Of Athena has ever managed to get an 'A'? Or in this case, an 'O'?"

Nico looked confused again. "'O'?"

Luna began to count off her fingers. "The wizardry grades are 'Outstanding', 'Exceeds Expectations', 'Acceptable', 'Poor', 'Dreadful', and 'Troll'"

Nyroc laughed. "I sense more than one 'Troll' coming my way in our OWLS."

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels?" asked Nico cautiously. We didn't acknowledge that, which was a signal for yes.

Alabaster groaned. "I wish I wasn't in Ravenclaw, then I could just slack off instead of having to study for higher grades."

"Tough luck." I said.

"That reminds me, why weren't you put in Ravenclaw in the first place, Draco?" Nico asked. "I would've thought you were, what with the whole Child Of Athena thing and all that stuff."

"Okay, first of all, grammar check." I said, wrinkling my nose. Luna and Nyroc laughed. "And to answer your question, I didn't want to be in Ravenclaw, just feeling rebellious against anything that tied me to the demigod world back then."

This is one of the many reasons why I decided to completely immerse myself in the wizarding world from young.

"By the way, what's Quidditch?" Nico asked.

I slapped my forehead, Luna gasped, Nyroc and Alabaster groaned.

"I can't believe we forgot that!" Nyroc groaned.

"That, Nico, is THE best sport in the WORLD." said Luna.

"It makes all the other sports look downright LAME." said Alabaster.

"EVERYONE knows it." said Nyroc.

"Every WIZARD." I corrected. "Since it can only be played with flying brooms and magic balls."

Nico looked like he was halfway between excited and frightened. "So... you have to fly to play?"

I sighed. "You're allowed to fly, remember? The gods blessed you and gave you free clearance."

"I know, it's just... I still have a hard time getting used to that."

"I know." said Nyroc. "It still makes me kind of jumpy."

"I can't wrap my mind around that." said Luna. "That seems too generous of the gods."

Me and Alabaster exchanged a look. The gods weren't doing this stuff because they were generous, they were doing it to keep us in line. I had been one step away from joining the Titans and Alabaster had actually gone ahead and did it, Luna had been causing trouble back in Camp Jupiter, and Nyroc was raised alone in the Underworld and was pretty loyal to Thanatos and Hades.

This quest was partly to distract us, partly to bribe us, to keep us from being trouble and making sure we listened to them. Nico was here because we needed a fifth person and pretty much refused anyone else that was suggested.

"We should get Harry to show you how to play." said Nyroc. "I don't play because I'm terrible at it but you shouldn't miss out."

"Why Harry?" asked Luna. "Why not us?"

"Well, I obviously can't be seen acting too friendly with all of you." said Nico. "That'll be too complicated."

"Right." said Nyroc. "I'm sure HERMIONE will be ever so glad to help you out with that."

Nico blushed a bit and it took me a few seconds to figure out Nyroc's comment.

"Does Hermione like Nico?" asked Alabaster in surprise.

Nico blushed even further before suddenly exclaiming, "Oh shit! I told Ron and Harry I just went to get something from the dorm, they'll be looking for me!"

Luna looked at him incredulously. "You told them that before lunch? That means you've apparently spent, what, three hours to 'get something from the dorm'? Are you serious?"

"I know! I know!" he said. Already halfway out the door. "I need to go!"

"Say hi to your girlfriend for me!" called Nyroc with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes as I reached for the knob.

Seriously.


	13. Harry Potter XII

**I can't believe I'm sneaking online to write something today!**

**Alright, because my evil enemies have hereby allied (writer's block and exam timetables), this chapter is far too short. But I needed this link in order to get to the next chapter. I might one day come back and make it better, but for now, it's gonna stay like this. I don't really have any better ideas yet anyway.**

**Plus, I really wanted to reply to all my reviews! Thanks for giving me so many guys!  
**

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_To She-wolf Shadow: ;D_

_To Live4Fanfics: Sorry to disappoint you, but Nico is probably not going to pair up with anyone. Draco and Luna might, though._

_To __KittyKat: I know that I should be doing that but when I need to write, I need to write. Can't concentrate when I do anyway._

_To Grimm Demon: So first of all, I really don't think Nico and Hermione will be together anymore (Hermione just has a crush on __him because he seems smart and polite). I'll take your idea into consideration, but I'm just going with the flow for this. But I'm glad you like how it's gone so far!_

_To Nico Di Angelo: Really, I don't know if you're being serious or sarcastic about this._

_To callmealiar: Thanks! I will keep writing!_

_To Elayia: Yes, I know. No, not Luna. She's __taken._

_To 1390931390931 and 130909: Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Harry Potter—

Nico wasn't there when we returned to the dorm. Ron and I ended up playing wizard chess several times.

"Can I play the winner?"

The three of us jumped. Hermione had been so immersed in her book and Ron and I were focused on the match. I noticed that Nico was now leaning over and watching us.

"Nico, when did you get here?" asked Ron suspiciously.

"Just now." he answered, cheeks flushed.

"You took an awfully long time to get back to the dorm. Three hours in fact."

Nico went even more red and sat down on the couch next to me. "I didn't think it was even possible to take that long. I got absolutely lost, suppose it's a good thing we don't have Geography in Hogwarts. This happens to me all the time."

I laughed, as did Dean sitting near the fireplace. Ron looked confused and Hermione gave me a disapproving glance.

Ron shrugged. He stared back at the board and prodded me on the shoulder. "Your turn."

"Huh? What? Oh." I looked again and decided to move my Bishop to A5.

"Queen E2, Check-&-Mate." Ron announced, and the little white pieces cheered. I sighed, but am already used to being beaten by Ron.

"Your turn." he said to Nico challengingly.

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**Yeah, it's too short. I was supposed to write some sort of discussion when they found out Nico wasn't there, but I really couldn't think of anything at this moment and I really want to get round to writing the next chapter. Will come back and edit this someday.**

**I was wondering if I should make Remus the Defense Against Dark Arts Teacher, what do you think?**


	14. Nico di Angelo XIII

**So, I'm sorry I abandoned you guys for awhile but this was the week of my exams and my mom wouldn't let me out of her sight. In a way, that's a good thing for me. I'm back now, at least, and I'll be updating frequently again!**

**This chapter is mostly Nico and Nyroc's thoughts on the war. I might do a Percy chapter next. What do you think?**

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_To She-wolf Shadow: Yeah, I thought so too. I'll probably do it, even if the story will be more Prisoner Of Azkaban if that happens._

_To Saryana Greenwood: I'm so happy that you like this story! Yes, I've been thinking that Remus really should be the Defense Against Dark Arts Teacher. Why Nyroc/Neville is good at Herbology will be explained later._

_To H.N. Dots (I put in a space because fanfiction wouldn't allow me to write your original name): Remus is totally one of my favourite characters. Yes, it will probably happen. Especially since everyone seems to agree._

_To Kpopbaby: I know! I'm sorry and I'm doing it now!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling.**

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—Nico di Angelo—

I sat down. As the pieces moved back to their proper position, it occurred to me that this may not have been the best idea.

It sounds ridiculous, I know. How could somethings so simple as playing wizard chess jeopardize our mission? If Draco were here, he would probably tell me that Ron would get suspicious if I played to well or something along those lines.

Ron made the first move. I had to make a decision to try to win or to lose on purpose or such. As it was, I decided to just try my best anyway (it wasn't like I'm particularly good at wizard chess, we demigods are more into improvising) since who's to say someone can't simply be good at chess if I do win?

I made my move. Ron fired his back just as quick. I put forth another unexpected choice, just as a decoy. Ron put one of his forward without comment.

My the time curfew came round and Percy Weasley came to tell us to go to bed, I had won two games and Ronald had beat me seven times. Suppose he really is as strategistic as they say.

It was a restless night for me, I had the strangest dream where Jason and Percy were running around the Argo II screaming my name for who knows why, then Coach Hedge ran in holding a tray of cupcakes and yelling that we'll all be late for the baseball game, Frank was trying to stop Leo from drowning himself, and Hazel was wearing a princess costume, and I was watching from the top of the mast wondering what the heck was going on.

After waking myself up and making sure everything was normal in reality, I decided to go get myself a cup of water.

Slowly, as to not wake the others, I leaned over and reached for my wand. The room was oddly silent, which is what I like about the night, especially since you could never quite find a quiet night in the demigod world. If it wasn't monsters or snoring teenagers, it was calm before the storm.

"Aguamenti." I whispered, filling my cup with water. Nyroc suddenly jerked awake.

"Sorry!" I said, alarmed that I had woken him. "It's only me!"

Nyroc lowered his wand, which I hadn't noticed he'd been holding. "Oh, Nico."

I tilted my head. It was usually quite hard to hear me at night, I tried my best to stay silent and I was sure that I hadn't whispered as loud.

Nyroc rubbed his eyes. "Don't worry, any slightest sound wakes me, it comes in handy when there are monsters attempting to get to Harry."

"Oh." I said, flushing. It was ridiculous to feel bad about it, actually.

Nyroc smiled. "I'm surprised Harry didn't wake me instead, he's usually trashing around all night."

I blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah." said Nyroc with a frown. "Most of his dreams aren't exactly demigod-like dreams, mind, but Luna says they're almost as bad."

"Which is saying a lot." I commented looking down at the boy. Poor Harry, it really wasn't fair for him to have to go through all this. The wizarding world took things a lot more seriously, it really made me have less and less respect for the gods and the way they did things.

I don't know how long we were sitting there, thinking about the war and simply relishing in the wonderful nighttime silence all children of the underworld love before Nyroc spoke up.

"How's things back in the demigod world?"

I stared. "Pardon?"

He looked a bit uncomfortable with this topic. "How's the war? I mean, we haven't really had any proper news since Alabaster showed up and told us the gods won The Second Titan War, but I heard something else happened while we were on break?"

It was odd. While our side was worried about the war —both the one with the giants and Gaia and the one between the camps— the demigods hiding in the wizarding world were completely isolated from all this.

"There's another war." I mumbled. I didn't particularly like this topic either. "Another prophecy. Again it makes it sound like we're all doomed."

"Any side prophecies?" he ventured. None of us particularly like to think about the Great Prophecies, they're always so misleading anyway.

"Three so far." I said. "The one Jason had—

Child of Lightning, beware the earth,  
The giants' revenge the seven shall birth,  
The forge and dove shall break the cage,  
And death unleash through Hera's rage."

"Hera's rage." he muttered. "I can imagine. That prophecy seems pretty straightforward."

"Yeah." I agreed. That was exactly what happened anyway. "And then Mars —Ares— gave them this ridiculous one because he was too lazy and brainless to do any better—

Go to Alaska,  
Find Thanatos and free him,  
Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die."

Despite the ridiculousness of that prophecy, Nyroc's smile was rather weak. He had been awfully worried those few weeks when his father went missing.

"There's one more." Nyroc said confusedly when I didn't say anything else.

I didn't like to think about that prophecy, because it made it hard for me to pretend Tartarus was just a dream, which I liked to do.

"It's... yeah... it's Annabeth's... no idea where she got it from actually... might have been from Ella (the book-loving harpy) or something..."

Nyroc looked a little impatient. I tried to remember the prophecy even though I didn't really want to.

"Well it's...

Wisdom's daughter walks alone,  
The Mark Of Athena burns through Rome,  
Twins snuff out the... the Angel's breath,  
Who holds the key to endless death,  
The giants' bane stands gold and pale,  
Won through pain from a woven jail."

Neither of us spoke for awhile.

One reason I hated that reminder so much was because I kept thinking about how Percy and Jason had been forced to come and rescue me, and led to Percy and Annabeth falling into Taratarus.

"You don't have to be ashamed." said Nyroc, as if reading my mind, which he sometimes claimed he could. "You had just gone through Tartarus, anyone would've been scared."

He sounded too much like Jason when he said stuff like that. It was soothing, but anyone was easier to handle when they were more relaxed and nonchalant. I'm still not sure how I feel about them getting to know me so well, it makes me feel vulnerable after all these years of putting up a shield.

He seemed to read my mind again. "You can trust us, ya know?"

Nyroc got up and pulled the covers back over me. "Get some sleep. Harry's bringing you to Quidditch practice tomorrow."

Oh no. What on earth am I supposed to say to Harry when he finds out I can't even fly?


	15. Percy Jackson XIV

**Yes! I told you I'm back to updating frequently! **

**So, I did a Percy chapter. Unfortunately, this story is mainly centered around Hogwarts, so there won't be a big demigod thing yet. It's only been one day of classes after all. Hope you still enjoy it though!**

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_To H.N. Dots: I generally appreciate all reviews, but you people that write nice stuff like that always make me so happy!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Percy Jackson—

I should feel guilty about going to sleep and letting the others deal with anything that happens during their watch. I'm not.

I so needed a break. We've been attacked left right and center all day under my watch, it had to be Jason's turn now, I was far too tired! Okay, Jason shared, like, half of the attacks with me, but I was up half the night on night shift too. Besides, Piper and Leo were there with him (not the ideal dream team though) and they hadn't done a thing all day! Oh, wait Leo was driving the ship. Right. We're getting off topic.

For us demigods, we've got to take our sleep however way it comes to us. I trudged into my room and collapsed onto the floor since I couldn't reach my bed.

Sleep was like paradise. And strangely, my dream sorta seemed like paradise for awhile too. Weird.

I was standing in a field. The sky was blue and beautiful. There were wispy clouds floating around in the sky. A breeze was blowing lightly.

I turned around slowly, this seemed too peaceful to be a dream. It was actually so nice that it was scary. It was like, as Nico once said, 'The calm before the storm'.

Then I saw a boy standing a few feet away and thought, 'Woah! This kid looks just like me!'

He did, you know. He had really messy black hair (like mine, sadly), and green eyes (even though his were way brighter). The boy only looked about thirteen, though. He rubbed his eyes and put on a pair of old-style rounded glasses.

We stared at each other for what seemed like forever.

"Blimey." he said after awhile. "You look just like me."

"I know!" I blurted out. "Who are you? Who are your parents?"

He looked at me strangely, as if I had just asked him if he was a human or something ridiculous like that.

"I'm Harry Potter." he said eventually. "Are you a wizard?"

I blinked. What? Did he just say a wizard?

"Of course not." I answered incredulously.

"Really?" he said, looking surprised. "Because I am. I don't suppose it will matter much if I'm telling you this in a dream anyway, but I'm a wizard."

This kid was mental. Crazy.

"I'm Percy Jackson." I said without thinking. "And I'm definitely not a wizard. Wizards don't exist."

He looked a bit thoughtful and confused, then it struck me. Maybe this kid was a demigod, a child of Hecate or something, that somehow managed to convince himself he was a wizard from a fairytale book of his.

"Who are your parents?" I asked him again.

"Lily and James Potter." he answered slowly. "If you're a wizard then you would know them, and I'm still not convinced you aren't, by the way."

I felt a bit frustrated. This kid really was stubborn.

"You're not a wizard." I said through clenched teeth. "You're—"

"Oh, I'm definitely a wizard." he said, looking offended. "And if I had my wand with me, I could prove it to you—"

Holy Poseidon, this guy went as far as to make a WAND?

"You're not a wizard!" I nearly yelled. "Because wizards don't exist!"

"They do too!" he yelled with a murderous glint in his eyes. "I am a wizard! I can do magic—"

I lost it. "It's not called magic!"

"I don't care what's not call magic! There's a sea serpent attacking and we can't deal with it nearly as well as you can!"

I blinked and saw Frank leaning over me.

"C'mon! Let's go!" he yelled.

I grabbed Riptide and ran after him.

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**I'm sorry, no you are not going to see what happens during or after this fight with the sea serpent. What matters is that they obviously won.**


	16. Ronald Weasley XV

**This must be the quickest I've written a new chapter yet! To all the people that like to read my stories!**

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_To Michelle: Thanks! Don't worry, I'm updating!_

_To H.N. Dots: I know, but I think demigods' reactions to magic will be the same as ours. Demigod stuff is 'logical' and magic isn't, apparently._

_Joey Bermuda Ketail: Okay! I'm doing it now aren't I!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling.**

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—Ron Weasley—

Harry was up to something.

When we woke us up the next morning, Harry had this thoughtful look on his face that usually meant trouble.

He didn't say anything until we got down to the great hall.

"Good morning." said Nico in a tone that suggested it was not a good morning.

"Good morning." said Harry.

"You look like you were up late." I commented.

Nico shrugged. "Had a really weird dream."

Harry nodded. "I had one too. There was this kid that just kept yelling at me that wizards didn't exist."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. First I saw this boy that sorta looked like me —messy black hair and green eyes— well he was sixteen too I think. Anyway, I was wondering whether I was seeing things then I remembered that it was only a dream, right?"

"Go on." said Nico.

"Right. So I told him I was Harry Potter —he had no reaction— and I asked him if he was a wizard. He said he wasn't but I'm pretty sure he was. He had this look that made him look like a fighter."

I frowned. "How would you know?"

Harry shrugged. "Instinct?" he suggested. "Well, he kept asking me who my parents were, I told him that they were Lily and James Potter and that I was a wizard, oh, he told me his name was 'Percy Jackson.'"

Nico seemed a bit taken aback at this.

"Then he said wizards don't exist, I said they did, he said I wasn't a wizard, I said I was, he said wizards don't exist again, I said I could do magic, then he suddenly yelled 'It's not called magic!'. Then I woke up. Quite suddenly."

I looked at him. "Strange dream." I decided. "What's our schedule for today?"

We all pulled out our schedules.

"Potions." Harry groaned. "AND History Of Magic. Both in one day!"

"Charms first." I said. "Pity. Isn't it amazing that we're always all in History Of Magic together, though?"

"You've got that right." said Hermione. "I've got Herbology first. What do you have, Nico?"

She leaned over his shoulder and seemed disappointed, so I guess Nico didn't get into the same class as her.

"Potions then History." said Nico. I rest my case. "Is Potions really bad?"

"Professor Snape is really biased." Harry said with a scowl. "He hates all Gryffindors, especially me."

"Yippee." Nico said sarcastically.

"It's not fair that you don't have to do Potions!" Harry said to me and Hermione.

I shrugged. "I'm not getting out of it, mine is on Thursday." I added, checking my schedule.

Hermione sighed. "I wish we had a better teacher than Snape, Potions is a really important class."

I stared at the half-eaten donut on Nico's plate, suddenly distracted. "That's all you're eating for breakfast? Seriously? You're starving yourself! No wonder you're so thin!"

The next few minutes were taken up by me, Harry and Hermione half-forcing him to eat more and stop starving himself while he tried to protest that he didn't need to.

Finally Hermione checked her watch again and decided we should all go to class.


	17. Draco Lightbringer XVI

**This chapter's a bit out of place, but I need it. Hope it's still okay!**

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_To loavableU: Aw, thanks!_

_To H.N. Dots: Hee hee, didn't think of it that way. It fits._

_To Joey Bermuda Ketail: I know! I know!_

* * *

**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling**

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—Draco Lightbringer—

Before we went in, I quickly pulled Nico aside when Harry wasn't looking.

"Okay, Nico, listen." I said. "In Potions class, I'm going to be mean to the Gryffindors just like any other time because that's what my cover is, okay?" He nodded. "Part of your job is to protect Harry so for today you need to make sure he's safe through the whole plan, alright?"

Nico stared at me. "What plan."

I resisted the urge to slap my forehead. "Shoot! I knew there was something I forgot! Listen, Nico, there's this special potion Nyroc and Luna need to take to maintain their magical abilities, which are already pretty weak as it is. Nyroc's going to explode his class potion today so that he can go search Snape's office for the ingredients."

He nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense. Is that all?"

I sighed. "No. I'm going to manipulate Snape into getting you to send Nyroc to the hospital wing when he explodes it. Would do it myself but that would just be too suspicious."

"Wouldn't Nyroc get hurt?" asked Nico. "And what about whoever his partner is?"

The thing about Nico is that he really does care about everyone he comes across. He just can't show it or he'll be too vulnerable. That is what we like about him.

"If Nyroc mixes the potion right, his partner should be fine." I assured him. "And if he doesn't, just bring him to the hospital wing and don't let Madam Pomfrey see Nyroc. I'll manipulate him into not remembering Nyroc was supposed to be with you. And give this to Nyroc once you're out of sight." I passed him a thermos flask from my bag. "Nectar."

Nico nodded. "Okay. Wait, why do I need to go with him anyway?"

I sighed. He can be so clueless sometimes. "Because Snape has to call someone out to bring him to the hospital wing, and you're the only other person! Not like you'll actually be going to the hospital unless his partner gets hurt, but still!"

"Oh." Nico looked a bit sheepish.

Time was running out. Snape would be nearing class it about twenty-five seconds. "One more thing, since I don't expect Nyroc to take this seriously. Make sure there's no trace of you being there. Snape's a legacy of Nemesis, he gets suspicious easily and jumps to conclusions a lot—"

"Snape's a legacy of Nemesis?" asked Nico, eyes widening.

"Yeah." I said, staring at my watch. "All pureblood families are descendants of at least one god. That's why they thought they were so much better in the old days, before they were blinded from us as most mortals are. I'm sorry but I'll have to explain this later."

I grabbed his collar and shoved him around the corner before rushing out myself.

Not with him, of course, we couldn't be seen together.

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**The thing about purebloods being descendants of the gods will be explained later.**


	18. Harry Potter XVII

**This story has a mix of different ideas from all the books. Some instructions from the Half-Blood Prince's potions book are present, as well as obviously The Prisoner Of Azkaban, and other stuff.**

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_To Genevieve: Glad you like that idea, it just came to me. No spoilers though!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling.**

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—Harry Potter—

Ugh. I hate Potions class.

Some time before Snape showed up, Nico disappeared. I wasn't quite sure about him at this point. He seemed like a nice kid and everything, but like Ron said, something was off about him.

Suddenly, he slammed right into me.

"I'm here!" he said, panting as if he'd just run a long way and holding his head where he had undoubtedly bumped onto my shoulder (yeah, he is that small).

"Where did you go?" I whispered to him as we filed into the classroom.

"Left my Potions book in the dorm!" he said. "So idiotic of me! And now my head hurts!"

I resisted the urge to laugh. He looked really innocent at this point, pouting and rubbing his head.

"Potter, would you like to tell us what's so funny?"

Snape was standing next to my desk. I must have laughed out loud.

Nico raised his hand. Snape raised an eyebrow and looked over. I wanted to bang my head on the desk. This he not see the danger in approaching him now?!

"What?" he snapped. Then Snape frowned. "Who are you? You're not in this year, get out of my class!"

Malfoy and couple of his Slytherins snickered into their hands. Bastards.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean, sir." said Nico. Sir? "And I'm not particularly sure who you are either, I'm new here, see? I haven't managed to find out your name yet."

Snape scowled even deeper. "Nico di Angelo, the 'little genius.'"

"I don't think so?" said Nico, frowning in confusion.

"Well, I'm Professor Snape, mind you pay attention and keep up! We're not lagging behind just because some first-year is having petty trouble! Potter!" I almost jumped at my name. "You partner di Angelo and try not to corrupt him with your terrible potion-making skills!"

Malfoy snickered again. I felt angry at all three of them. No, two of them. It wasn't Nico's fault.

Snape scratched the instructions for the Draught of Living Death on the blackboard and told them all to get into pairs.

"This is a very difficult potion," he said, "But you should at least be able to avoid melting cauldrons today!"

"Sorry." said Nico, as we were working. "I didn't mean for Snape to go at you like that, I was trying to distract him before."

I shrugged. "It's no worry, Snape always does that."

He frowned, but went back to getting the juice out of his sopophorus bean.

"Blimey, how did you get so much?" I gasped, seeing how he had loads compared to my few drops.

He looked over to me. "Oh, ah, just press the beans with the flat of a knife instead. It works much better."

I stared at him, that wasn't what it said in our books, but shrugged and tried it.

I was amazed at how much juice came out.

"Where did you learn that?" I asked him.

"A friend told me." he said simply.

I wanted to ask him more but at that moment there was a yell and a potion exploded.

Dean was at the other end of the classroom, hurriedly shaking drops of bluey-green liquid off his clothes. Neville was next to his cauldron drenched in the stuff and his skin was covered in painful-looking reddish boils. He looked terribly hurt.

"Again, Longbottom?" Snape snarled.

I had to admit, it was amazing that Neville managed to fudge up his potion every single time we had class.

Neville whimpered a little and Malfoy sniggered with his cronies. Snape snorted.

"di Angelo!" he said, pointing to said person. "Take Longbottom to the infirmary and don't hurry back!"

Nico jumped up and helped Neville out the door looking distraught and worried. Probably he hadn't had such a class where dangerous potions like these were made before. I almost envied him for that.

"What are you all staring at?" asked Snape and everyone jumped. "Get back to work!"

I looked down at Nico's book and a hastily scribbled line caught my eye.


	19. Nyroc Lasky XVIII

**Hi! Okay, my chapters are getting shorter, I think. I'm trying, really, but I'm still not exactly experienced with this whole fanfic-writing thing so please give me a break if it doesn't turn out well up to your standards!**

**It may be some time before I update again, unfortunately. My computer's charger got busted, and it's annoying trying to upload these from my iPad. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning it.**

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_To H.N. Dots: Have I ever mentioned how much I love your reviews?_

_To The Son Of Hades123: Omigosh! I noticed that too! And I feel awful about it, really. Trying my best to extend my chapter longer though, trying!_

_To Guest: ;)_

_Nico and Guest: As I said before, I'm probably not going to be pairing Nico with anyone. Some crushes as stuff maybe but to actual get-together thing._

_To Aphrodite child: Yes! I am! Sorry for taking so long!_

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**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling.**

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—Nyroc Lasky—

We were careful not to let anyone see us, and quickly ducked into and empty DADA classroom. Nico looked really worried and the boils all over my body were starting to itch. They don't hurt, at least compared to all the other potions I 'accidentally' spilled on myself all the other times.

When we had safely closed the door behind us, Nico handed me the flask of nectar, which I gulped down gratefully. The thing about not drinking too much had pretty much been thrown out the window.

"Are you okay?" he asked me once I was done. I checked my arms. No boils.

"I'm fine." I assured him. "They don't actually hurt, anyway."

Nico looked relieved. "I thought you were really hurt! I wasn't really sure whether it was just acting."

I gave him a weird look. "I thought Draco told you about what we were doing?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but it was sort of a last minute thing, so I wasn't sure exactly what you did. Considering all the stuff that Alabaster told me happened in first and second year..."

"Alabaster told you stuff?" I asked, shocked.

Nico gave me a funny look. "Yeah. He briefed me on the stuff that happened in first and second year since, well, he just wanted to."

I shook my head. "Don't tell Draco or Alabaster might get in trouble. Or maybe not since he's so much older. But still, Draco chews us out pretty harsh when we mess things up."

"How is telling me this stuff 'messing things up'?"

"I dunno. But if Draco didn't tell you, he must have a reason. Maybe he's afraid that you'll let somethings slip when you shouldn't know these things, being a student and all." Draco confuses me with his tactics all the time. The problem is that he usually only tells me the bits I need to know, and doesn't tell me the full plan most of the time. I know he's afraid I'll mess up but I'll bet he's messed up before himself and just covered it up by spontaneously changing the plan.

Nico looked just as confused right then, but I quickly decided that we should go on. The two of us headed to Snape's office and quickly began looking through his stores.

"We need vinewood, bezoerpowder, twinecorn, aconitemilk, and bobbleberries." I recited. We used to have a list but after two years of going through the same routine all four of us had memorized it.

I reached up to push aside a row of rather dusty jars when Nico grabbed my hand.

"Wait! You'll leaves fingerprints all over the dust!" he said. Then he took out his wand and went, "Wingardium-laviosa!"

The jars jumped up and I grabbed a small bottle of aconitemilk. Then I replaced it with one of the bottles that I had snuck out from Potions class.

"What's that?" Nico asked, confused, as all the other jars flew back into place without even dropping their dust.

"Just birdleaves." I answered, looking for the others. Snape was always rearranging his stuff, it was so annoying. "It's a secondary ingredient we use in class. If I didn't put that there, Snape would notice the empty space." I grabbed a long-necked bottle filled with murky stuff. "Vinewood. I always thought they'd miss-named it. It doesn't look a bit like wood."

Nico shrugged. "It's probably made from vinewood, in the only form possible if you wanted to use it to make a potion."

I laughed. "No wonder Hermione likes you so. You're such a smarty-pants even when you're not trying."

He blushed. "I'm only eleven! Oh, look, is that twinecorn?"

Nice change of subject. I looked over to where he was pointing. "No, that's cottoncorn."

He looked miffed. "Cottoncorn? Can't these people be more original?"

I shrugged. "Bobbleberries." I caught sight of a small container of dark purple lumps in a container on Snape's desk. Oh no. Bobbleberries were supposedly rare, so it Draco always worried that Snape would notice them gone. Well he probably would now.

I reached into my pocket and took out the sanctuary for desperate measures. Raisins.

Nico stared. "We're going to replace the bobbleberries with raisins?"

I shrugged. "They look about the same. Look here, I'll just swap the containers and no one would be the wiser. Don't touch the bobbleberries, Nico! They're sorta corrosive to skin."

Nico gingerly scraped the berries into the opposite container using a pencil then used 'scourgify' to clean it.

"There's some bezoerpowder here." I grabbed a jar filled with blueish-brownish-greenish powder and replaced it with a third bottle.

"Now we just need twinecorn." Nico mumbled. "But Nyroc, wouldn't Snape have trouble making any potions using raisins when he thinks he's actually using bobbleberries?"

"Raisins are neutral in potion-making. They'll neutralize any potion they go into, even though they have the same visual effects as any berry (or grape), so Snape wouldn't really know until he figures that the potion isn't working."

Neville is supposed to be terrible at potions, but honestly I'm only half-bad. That reputation came along mostly because I explode most of my potions and because Neville is super clumsy.

"Found the twinecorn." said Nico. I swapped it for a jar of beetle eyes and started to get the heck out of that room.

Nico slowed me down by doing a security check around the room first and we went out.

"We've got how much longer until class ends again?" I asked.

All the classroom doors simultaneously opened, making a series of thumps go through the castle.

"Now." he shrugged. "I'm not particularly in a hurry to get to History. It's like you said, I'll be getting good grades in that no matter what. Besides, Hermione isn't going to care since I was supposedly helping you in the hospital wing."

I snorted. He was so blind. "Don't worry, nothing's going to come between you and Hermione."

He flushed again. "I repeat, I'm eleven." he mumbled. "Besides, she doesn't like the real me. Only the half-real me."

"That's right." I laughed. I quickly stopped when we came across some other students since Neville isn't the kind of person who laughs at evil stuff like that. As soon as they passed, I whispered to him, "So, whad'ya say we ditch this class?"

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**All mentioned ingredients are almost completely made up.**


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